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Veteran Cedar Creek girls ready to contend for district XC title

Veteran Cedar Creek girls ready to contend for district XC title

Cedar Creek coach Stephen Morales has a spring in his step and a smile on his face.

The Eagles return six veterans from last year’s girls team that finished second in District 26-5A. Senior Cassidy Emens and junior Damaris Cruz led the Eagles at district, finishing fifth (20 minutes, 45 seconds on the 5-kilometer course) and eighth (20:57), respectively.

Juniors Jessica Parnell (13th in 21:46) and Lauren Lopez (15th in 21:53) were not far behind. Seniors Denis Cedillo (28th in 23:25) and Clarissa Collins (39th in 26:26) gave the Eagles depth.

Cross country teams are allowed to enter seven runners, and the top five count in scoring.

Morales said Parnell, who also plays softball, would have run better last year had it not been for injuries. This summer, Parnell advanced through district and regional to qualify for the AAU Junior Olympics in the 1,500 and 3,000 in the 17-18-year-old division. Her times of 5:59.75 in the 1,500 and 12:40.71 in the 3,000 at nationals were not impressive because of “nerves,” Morales said.

As a freshman, Parnell grabbed third at district in 20:00. Morales said she put in the miles this summer and is in good health.

“I think she can definitely get back to that (time),” Morales said.

Seniors Jonathan Beltran (ninth at district in 17:58) and Brian Ruiz (13th in 18:08) are the only veterans from last year’s boys team. Both played on the Eagles’ district championship soccer team in 2016. Soccer coach Chris Fisher said he hopes to lure some other soccer players to join the cross country team.

Morales is looking at five freshmen to compete for spots. He said they ran steadily this summer.

“We evaluate it on a week-to-week basis,” Morales said about the roster. “At the beginning of the season, I don’t say, ‘These are the seven’ and stick with them all season. It gives the younger guys an opportunity to step up and find out that they can be a lot more than they thought they could.”

After UIL realignment, Cedar Creek finds itself in District 19-5A. Georgetown has to be considered the favorite, based on the boys and girls teams’ advancing to the state meet last year. Georgetown girls return four from that squad, while the boys welcome back three. The Cross Country Coaches Association of Texas preseason poll ranks Cedar Park girls 10th in the state and the Cedar Park boys 3rd and Georgetown boys 5th.

“We’ve got some powerhouses,” Morales said about the district’s strength.

Morales views the higher level of competition as an incentive to work harder.

“We can’t really back down,” he said. “You can’t say it’s a given that those teams will advance. That’s a detriment to us. We’ve gotta believe that can do that (advance to region).”

Morales believes in putting in mileage before the start of school. His athletes ran loops around the school, which included a hill. He encouraged his athletes to run at least three to five miles a day on a five-day schedule.

“The expectation is that they come in with a good, solid base,” he said. “I can tell very quickly who has run and who has not run this summer. I keep in touch with them over the summer to make sure they are putting in some miles.”

Once school starts, Morales shifts to intervals on the track to improve speed.

Cedar Creek begins its season at the Mud, Sweat, and Cheers Meet at Caldwell on Aug. 27.